"Practice Your Escape Plan" During Fire Prevention Week

When creating your fire escape plan, identify at least two different ways each family member can escape every room, and designate a safe place in front of the home for family members to meet after escaping a fire. Then practice your plan twice a year. "Practice Your Escape Plan!" is the theme for Fire Prevention Week 2007.*

Escape plans are important because residential fires are the leading cause of fire-related mortality. In 2006, fire departments responded to 412,500 home fires in the United States, which claimed the lives of 2,580 people and injured another 12,925, not including firefighters.¹ On average in the United States in 2006, someone died in a fire every 162 minutes, and someone was injured every 32 minutes. ¹ Residential fires accounted for nearly $7 billion in property damage.

Fire-related deaths and injuries can be prevented. In fact, smoke alarms decrease the chances of dying in a house fire by 40%-50%.² However, about one-quarter of US households lack working smoke alarms. ²

Older adults are at much higher risk for residential fire deaths when compared with the rest of the population. ³ Residential fires also disproportionately affect young children, African Americans, Native Americans, and the poorest Americans. ^{4, 5}

For more information, including tips about how to prevent residential fire-related injuries, see the fact sheet on fire deaths and injuries. Also read a related CDC MMWR article about nonfatal injuries. Also see, Lessons from CDC’s Smoke Alarm Installation and Fire Safety Education Program.

References

¹ Karter MJ. Fire loss in the United States during 2006. Quincy (MA): National Fire Protection Association, Fire Analysis and Research Division;2007.

² Ahrens M. U.S. experience with smoke alarms and other fire alarms. Quincy (MA): National Fire Protection Association; 2004.

³  CDC. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [Online]. (2006). National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (producer). Available from URL: www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars. [cited 2007 Jan 27].

⁴ United States Fire Administration, FEMA, National Fire Data Center. Fire in the United States: 1989–1998. 12th ed. Emmitsburg (MD): United States Fire Administration; 2001.

⁵ Istre GR, McCoy MA, Osborn L, Barnard JJ, Bolton A. Deaths and injuries from house fires. New England Journal of Medicine 2001;344:1911–6.